Page 1 of 1
Live in Windows on a Mac...worth it?
Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 10:23 pm
by Smellhound
I'm trying to set up a recently purchased Macbook Pro so that it has all the same plugins/functionality of my studio PC rig (ie: all the plugins that are PC-only). I'm considering using Boot Camp and just running XP but that will mean buying a new copy of Windows. Does anyone have experience with this? Do you suggest trying to 'recreate' my studio computer or is it better to abandon the PC-only plugins and transition to an all-Mac studio?
Re: Live in Windows on a Mac...worth it?
Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 10:24 pm
by djsynchro
it just works
Re: Live in Windows on a Mac...worth it?
Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 10:34 pm
by Smellhound
Could you elaborate? Are you saying you've never had any issues? Seems too good to be true.
Re: Live in Windows on a Mac...worth it?
Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 11:49 pm
by arbee
Smellhound wrote:it is better to abandon the PC-only plugins and transition to an all-Mac studio!
Re: Live in Windows on a Mac...worth it?
Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 1:15 am
by mihai
getting a mac and not using the os as a main system defeats the purpose of buying a mac. unless of course your initial reason of buying one is because it looks so pretty.
take advantage of mac os if you have it. if you just want to recreate your pc experience then simply buy a windows laptop.
if the windows plugs are free then i believe it's more incentive to ditch them and perhaps get a better grip on the live tools.
Re: Live in Windows on a Mac...worth it?
Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 12:05 pm
by Joe Lindsey
I have been running a dual-boot system for my graphics work for a couple of years now. The problem with Windows on a Mac is that, booted under Windows, the computer tends to get uncomfortably hot, because the Windows OS doesn't do a good job of monitoring/adjusting the fan speed.
Also the newer mac's have a dual-graphics GPU, and under Windows the system only uses the higher powered GPU, which runs much hotter, and sucks battery like crazy. Under Mac OS X, the GPU is switched back and forth automatically, decreasing both heat and battery-suck when doing things that don't require intensive graphics (such as looking at forum posts for example)
This can be combated by using utilities to adjust the MacBook's fan speed when booted to Windows (like input Key Remapper
http://www.olofsson.info/index.html?inputremapper.html) but its still a pain in the ass.
My advice is to just get a PC, unless you have a specific bit of software that you want to use that is mac-only (ie Logic Studio, Final Cut Pro etc).
Re: Live in Windows on a Mac...worth it?
Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 12:14 pm
by hennessey
arbee wrote:Smellhound wrote:it is better to abandon the PC-only plugins and transition to an all-Mac studio!
+1. What plugin(s) are so indispensable, or don't have a mac version?
Re: Live in Windows on a Mac...worth it?
Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 6:25 pm
by chewy
I just bought the 2010 Macbook pro only because it looks pretty (isn't that the primary reason people buy these laptops?). Installed a new 500GB 72000RPM Seagate HDD and Windows 7 64bit. Live runs %100, super fast and stable. I absolutely love the new machine, love the build quality, it's coolness factor and the backlit keyboard and with Apple's latest patch I'm even able to use the headphone jack. Awesome!!
Sorry but OSX is just too weird and backwards feeling (IMO).
~chewy
Re: Live in Windows on a Mac...worth it?
Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 6:46 pm
by hoveneverslackin
Smellhound wrote:I'm trying to set up a recently purchased Macbook Pro so that it has all the same plugins/functionality of my studio PC rig (ie: all the plugins that are PC-only). I'm considering using Boot Camp and just running XP but that will mean buying a new copy of Windows. Does anyone have experience with this? Do you suggest trying to 'recreate' my studio computer or is it better to abandon the PC-only plugins and transition to an all-Mac studio?
I used to dual boot from my Mac Pro quad-core often for music work (running xp) and while all my graphics work was on the mac side (Its how i made most of my income back then. now its fulltime music.)
My experience with that: Running bootcamp'ed Windows XP, i could only see 3 gigs of ram but my machine had 12 gigs.
OS X can see all 12. I read on forums that thats just how windows works. Each application can utilize up to a certain amount of ram (i think 2 or something weird). Then Bootcamp itself caps the available memory usage. Its not a fair deal at all. You can find all these discussions in Cubase forum.
Re: Live in Windows on a Mac...worth it?
Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 7:57 pm
by sp0bjogu
hoveneverslackin wrote:Smellhound wrote:My experience with that: Running bootcamp'ed Windows XP, i could only see 3 gigs of ram but my machine had 12 gigs.
A bootcamp'ed 64-bit version of Windows (be it XP, Vista or 7) would be able to see and utilize all your RAM. However, if your Windows applications are still 32-bit they won't be able to address more than 4 GB each, but even so, 64-bit is the way to go!
/sp0
Re: Live in Windows on a Mac...worth it?
Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 8:04 pm
by NRJay
I you wanne use windows, get a PC, it's that simple!
What plugins are you using that are windows only?
There is probably a plethora of mac alternatives for every one of them.
Re: Live in Windows on a Mac...worth it?
Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 4:55 am
by Akshara
Moved my PC studio from a desktop to an XP/Bootcamp partition on a MBP, and ran it successfully with Live for almost two years. It was my best Windows experience of the last 20 years.
However I simultaneously ran Live on OS X with no third party plugins, for convenience and stability in performance, and switched between the two versions frequently (which worked really well). Eventually I grew into the OS X way of doing things (there is a truth behind the hype), and stopped booting into XP as much. Over time I got Mac versions of critical plugins, and now the XP partition has been uninstalled for a little over a year and sits as a cloned image on an external drive.
Either way you go, it's a good system. However if I had the chance to do it all again, I would skip the XP/Bootcamp part, purchase a great
OS X video tutorial and dive in headfirst.
Re: Live in Windows on a Mac...worth it?
Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 5:38 am
by rosti
Akshara wrote:Either way you go, it's a good system. However if I had the chance to do it all again, I would skip the XP/Bootcamp part, purchase a great
OS X video tutorial and dive in headfirst.
Or just mock around with OSX for week or two. It's really not that weird. If you run in to a problem:
www.google.com
I switched from 10+ years on windows to mac in 2 days and dont want to go back.
Although i have XP installed to a bootcamp partition for gaming. But that came unnecessary when Steam for mac launched. still waiting for Left 4 Dead 2 for mac though..
Re: Live in Windows on a Mac...worth it?
Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 9:48 pm
by Smellhound
good tips, thanks
My main apprehension is over buying (& learning) the 'plethora' of mac alternative 3rd party plugs that are PC-only. Although it does seem like the better option.
Re: Live in Windows on a Mac...worth it?
Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 8:02 pm
by Akshara
I hear you, that was a genuine concern for me as well. In my case, it was upgrading to Live 8 Suite and running it pure vanilla on the OS X side for a long while that changed things, because I started using the Ableton effects and instruments in a way that I'd never really needed to on the PC side.
However I want to clarify that running WinXP on a MBP was a great experience, and that the beauty of going that route is that you can have your cake and eat it to. There is no rush.